


The Owl and the Raven

by TheSaddleman



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Canon Compliant, F/M, Fairy Tales, Friendship, Love Story, Memories, Romance, doctor x clara oswald, eleventh doctor x clara oswald - Freeform, whouffaldi, whouffle
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-06
Updated: 2016-11-06
Packaged: 2018-08-29 11:48:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,654
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8488174
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheSaddleman/pseuds/TheSaddleman
Summary: A grandmother tells her loved one a fairy tale about an owl who travelled the universe with a raven he loved very much.





	

**Author's Note:**

> An experimental piece. I hope you like this one. To say too much would be too much of a spoiler. The stories will sound familiar but I hope have a new feel being related in this way.

“Grandma, tell me the story again. Please?”

“Are you sure? It’s getting late. You have school tomorrow.”

“Please?”

“But you know how it ends.”

“I want to hear you tell it.”

“Okay, Alistair. Here’s the story of the Owl and the Raven.”

***

Once upon a time, there was a wise old owl who travelled through all of time and space.

Although he was a wise old owl, to all the world he looked very young. It caused him much frustration as he often felt the other animals didn’t treat him with the respect he deserved. For he was in fact the oldest owl in the land, even if he acted a little childish. “What’s the point of being a grownup if you can’t be childish sometimes?” he used to say.

The owl was not short on friends. He travelled throughout the universe with many others throughout his long life. They all became close friends. And a few he fell in love with, like a lioness who he married. And a young gazelle that helped him heal after he’d experienced a very difficult ordeal. For the owl knew the taste of war.

But the day eventually came when the owl found himself all alone. And he was sad. And he gave up on life and lived on a cloud overlooking the city. “Go away!” he would say to anyone who would call.

But the owl still came down to earth once in a while. Maybe it was because he wanted the company of others, even if he wouldn’t admit it.

One day a young, beautiful raven found the wise old owl in an alleyway. “Go away,” the owl told the raven, though not in an unkind way for the owl had noticed how the raven looked at him. How her eyes danced and her wings fluttered as he came near. 

But the owl had resigned himself to a life of solitude. He would allow himself to have no more friends because it hurt too much. “Please, go away,” he repeated.

But the raven didn’t listen. She secretly flew after the owl and hid behind a tree and watched as he climbed up to his home in the clouds. When she was certain no one was looking, she followed him.

No one was supposed to be able to follow the owl up to the clouds. Even he couldn’t fly that high. He needed a magic staircase, and somehow the raven had found it. The owl was impressed. Who was this raven? Why did she look at him the way she did? 

And the owl knew he was in love again, but it wasn’t meant to be. For the owl had terrible enemies who constantly plotted against him and one of them sent a woman made of ice up to his home in the clouds and she pulled the raven from the sky, and the raven fell to earth with a terrible crash.

The owl was heartbroken because he had truly fallen in love at first sight. He had friends who kept the raven alive for a little while, long enough for him to come down from the cloud and say goodbye after he had defeated his enemy.

And then the raven turned her head and looked at the owl with eyes full of tears and said, just before she died: “Run you clever boy and remember.” 

And the owl did remember, for another raven had spoken to him with those same words, and she had also died. That raven had spoken with the same voice as one lying quiet on a bed in front of him now. How could that be? How could the same raven, the same impossible raven, live in two different places?

The owl had to find out. And he now had a purpose. So he left his cloud and travelled the universe, trying to find the raven that he loved.

He searched for a long, long time. He drew pictures of the raven. Searched for any record of her, anywhere. And he despaired of ever finding her. He nearly considered going back to live on his cloud. Instead, he went to live with the monkeys (because the otters wouldn’t have him). 

But somewhere far away, a young raven needed help, and a snake told her that the owl was the wisest owl in the universe, and he would help her. And so the raven sent a message to the owl, who flew to the city to be with her. And it was the same raven! Or, at least, she looked and talked like the raven who he’d fallen in love with on the cloud.

But at the same time, it wasn’t the same raven. She thought the owl was odd, strange, scary even. He invited her to travel with him. “Only on Wednesdays,” she said. Because the owl was brilliant and funny and mad, and she didn’t want to fall in love with him.

But, as they travelled together every Wednesday, the raven did fall in love with the owl, even as others courted her, like the wise old bear she met under the sea and a king who hid his true identity as he fell in love with her. He asked her to marry him, but the raven had to say no, because her heart belonged to the owl, even if the owl didn’t know it yet.

And then one day the owl lay dying. His enemies tried to destroy him throughout all of time, but the raven was clever and she found a magic portal. She flapped her wings, jumped through the portal and scattered herself throughout the owl’s life. She saved him countless times, always knowing the owl would hardly ever notice her. One of these times, she became the raven that followed the owl up to his home in the clouds, and started the entire story because the owl fell in love with her then.

The owl expected the raven to die saving him, but she survived and returned to him, and they continued to travel together, but they were closer than ever before. And one day the raven realized that she truly did love the owl, but the owl became trapped in a place where the people needed him as their protector. For an eternity, the owl stayed in this town, saving the people from his enemies, and he had to send the raven away. And she was heartbroken. She wanted to grow old with the owl, to be with him. But not once but twice he sent her away. And not once but twice she found a way back to him.

But the owl was dying. The magic that allowed him to renew himself had been spent. And his enemies were closing in. But he was happy that the raven was with him. And the raven did not see an aged owl sitting hunched in a chair, she saw the young owl that made her laugh, that frightened her sometimes, but who she’d always trust and never lie to. The owl that she loved more than anyone else in the world.

And the owl kissed her goodbye and went to his death. But the raven was clever and she knew there had to be a way to save him. And so she used another magic portal, one that had been looking over the owl for a long time, and sent a message, that if the owl was truly loved, he had to survive.

And her words moved the universe. And the owl, at the moment he expected to die, was filled with a golden light that exploded out, vanquishing his enemies.

But there was a price to be paid. The owl had to change. The raven reached out to embrace him, but it was too late. Another golden light exploded out and now he looked different. His eyes were not as friendly. His eyebrows were terrifying. He looked cross. He looked older than he had been. And the raven knew things would be different.

The owl, with his new face and his new personality, tried. He tried to show the raven that he was the same owl he always had been, just with a new face. And the raven tried to accept this. She and the owl continued to travel together, and she told him once that he was her hero, but he didn’t believe her.

And it wasn’t the same. “Am I good?” he asked the raven once. And she honestly didn’t know. He no longer embraced her. He no longer kissed her forehead. They enjoyed their adventures together, but it wasn’t the same. 

And then one day the raven fell in love with another raven, and they were happy, but the owl became sad, and angry, and he disliked the other raven. And the other raven disliked the owl. And she was caught in the middle because she loved both the owl and the other raven equally.

One day, the owl was cruel to her. He didn’t mean to be, but she became angry and told the owl she never wanted to see him again. And she went home to the other raven, who was himself wise and understanding and while he did not know she loved the owl, he knew they had been friends for a long time. He convinced her to travel with the owl one last time, to say goodbye. To part as friends. To forgive. 

And so the raven did, and she and the owl travelled on a train that flew through the cosmos. But it was a mistake, because she realized she still loved the owl, as intensely as she had loved him before. More, even. And she couldn’t give him up. But her raven, she loved him intensely, too. She found herself telling them both that she loved them, at the same time. 

And then she began to lie to the other raven. She could not give the owl up. She wanted both the owl and her own raven. She became greedy. And so for a while she and the owl travelled together in secret. And she realized she was becoming more like the owl, with his thirst for adventure filling her and she found she loved it almost as much as she loved life itself.

But there was a price. Her raven eventually learned that she was lying to him, and he told her to be truthful if she wanted to keep him. So she made the decision that she would not keep him. That he deserved to fly and find another raven who was his very own. Her heart belonged to the owl, and she could not give him up. She told her raven that she loved him, but that she had something to say. Something that was not good.

But then her raven was dead. Killed in an accident as she spoke to him. And the raven became so sad, she betrayed the owl. Tried to force him to go against nature and rescue her raven. To bring him back from the dead. But the owl loved the raven and forgave her. He told her he loved her, though she didn’t realize he had said so.

And the owl tried to rescue her raven anyway. And he nearly succeeded, but her raven sacrificed his chance to return in order to instead save the life of another. But she knew the owl would have been heartbroken at knowing her raven was lost forever, so she lied to him, told him they were together, and he could move on with his life. And the owl lied to his raven. He told her he’d finally found his true home after it being lost for so many years.

And they parted sadly until one day they were reunited in a dream, a dream that became real. They found out they’d lied to each other but, instead of being mad about it, the raven kissed the owl and they began travelling again. And their love grew.

But the raven was becoming more and more like the owl all the time. She even faced some of his enemies by herself. This made some of the people she met angry and her friends worried. No more so than the owl himself, who told her he was scared of losing her. Again, he told her he loved her, but she didn’t realize he had. And she said she loved him and it seemed he didn’t realize, either.

The owl knew he should give her up, take her home, let her live a life that was normal and safe. But it was too late. He loved her too much. She loved him too much. They loved adventure too much.

And so one day the owl and the raven found themselves tricked into helping a friend who had been marked for death. And the raven believed she could think like the wise old owl and save the day, but she was so young and he had been travelling for so long, she made a mistake. The mistake saved their friend, but it cost her her life, but not before she and the owl hugged and said goodbye and he kissed her hand. He wanted to tell the raven how much he loved her, but she wouldn’t allow him to do that, because she knew it would make their parting even harder. But she knew he loved her, and that was the important thing.

And then she died and the owl was so sad, he couldn’t even cry. But he was still trapped. Their friend had been marked for death as part of a trick to capture the owl. His own people were convinced that he knew a terrible secret and they imprisoned him in a castle where they tortured him for many, many years. But he wouldn’t tell them the secret. Instead, he came up with a plan to save his raven, to bring her back to his side. But he had to be patient. He had to be patient for many, many years as he slowly punched through a diamond wall with his bare hands, the only way to get out of the castle. But the owl was strong, and the memory of his beloved raven kept him strong, and he knew he would someday win.

And he did. With a mighty scream, he finally broke the diamond wall and found that beyond it was his homeland. The owl put his plan into motion by first deposing the mad king who had entrapped him and who was responsible for his raven’s death. And then he used a magic portal to rescue the raven the moment before she died.

But the raven was not happy. She loved the owl, but she saw madness in his eyes now. And she no longer felt her heart beating in her breast because she was now frozen between one heartbeat and the last. Not dead, but not fully alive either. She still breathed the air, but only out of habit. 

But even if her heart no longer moved, she was still heartbroken when she saw what billions of years in a prison did to the owl she loved. 

Her eyes gazed upon the owl and she made him stop and be quiet as she told him something very important. Something she needed to say. But it was something no one else could ever hear, so we will never know what she told him. But in the end his head was bowed and she told him to run while she distracted his enemies.

And he did. And she turned to his enemies, those who had kept him imprisoned for so long, and she told them what she thought of them. To the raven, they were the true monsters. And they were hated by everyone. But by nobody more than the raven.

With that, she vanished and joined the owl as they ran.

They ran until the end of time. The owl thought that by doing so, he could bring the raven back to life. But it was not to be. She still felt, she still talked, she still cried, she still spoke, and she still loved the owl very much. But she was no longer truly alive, and nothing the owl could do would save her.

And the owl ranted at this. And he shouted. And he scared the raven. He told her no one could tell him what to do anymore. That he was accountable to no one anymore. But then he looked into her eyes and he knew in his soul that this was not true.

And they knew the owl’s enemies were closing in. If they found her, they’d force her back into the place where she died. And all of the owl’s sacrifices would have been for nothing. 

That’s why the owl had decided that the raven had to lose her memories of him. Of all the times they had travelled, laughed, faced danger, loved one another. All this had to be lost. 

But the raven said no.

“No,” she told the owl. “My memories are my own. They are all I have left. You have no right to take them from me.”

And the owl knew she was right. But she was still in danger, so as she protested and as she cried for him not to say goodbye, he erased his own memories instead. 

As he fell asleep in her arms, the owl asked the raven to smile for him one last time. But she couldn’t. And she kissed him afterwards, but he was already asleep.

The raven took the owl to the place he truly liked to call home, and she disguised herself and spoke to him, trying to get him to remember her. To see her. But it was all for nothing. All the owl had to remember her by was a song. And he played the song for the raven and told her it was named for someone he had lost, but could no longer remember. And the raven told him that maybe those memories now lived on in the song.

“Wouldn’t that be nice,” the owl said.

And the raven looked at him with sad eyes. Goodbye, my love, she said to herself. Someday, I promise, we’ll find a way to be together again. 

And as the owl turned his back to play the sad song, the raven finally, with a flutter of wings, flew away.

The end.

***

“Grandma, did the raven ever find the owl again? You’ve never said. It’s a very sad story.”

“Yes, they did find each other, eventually. He was very old by this time. Very old. In fact, he knew he would never transform again into a young owl and that, the next time he was hurt or sick, he would not change, he’d finally pass on, and this time there was no magic portal for anyone to send a message asking for more golden light. The raven found the owl and pledged to be with him forever—until he passed on at last. And she did. They spent many happy years together. They couldn’t have children since she herself was not truly alive, so they adopted a baby son, and later a daughter, and had a family that way. And they loved each other very much, and they loved their children very much. And they loved their grandchildren even more. And when the wise old owl finally passed on, the universe wept … but no one wept more than I did.”

“The raven was you all along, Grandma?”

“I’ve been telling you this story for a long time. I think you’re old enough to know the truth.”

“The owl was Grandpa Basil?”

“Yes, Alistair.”

“Did all this really happen?”

“Of course it did. More or less.”

“I wish I’d been able to see Grandpa.”

“I know, love. But he left us long before you were born.”

“Are you going to pass on too, Grandma? You still look young. But Grandpa looks so old in the photo album.”

“I’ll always look young, Alistair, you know that. I even look younger than your mother. But someday my time will have to come. It must. But not while I still have stories to tell. About the life I’ve had, and the life I had with your grandfather. But I do miss him and I hope we’ll be together again when the time comes.”

“Because Grandpa now lives in the May-treecks?”

“You’ve been talking to your uncle David. You mean the Matrix. Yes. I took him home. When Time Lords pass on, their souls go into a thing called the Matrix. There they live on forever. So I know he’s there, waiting for me. Because the last thing he told me before he left us is that he’d wait and be patient, just like he was once patient for billions of years to be with me again, even if only for a few hours. When I took your grandfather home, I spoke to the people there and they told me that, when the time comes, when I face the raven at last, they’ll bring my soul to Gallifrey to live in the Matrix with your grandfather. We’ll be together again.”

“Not for a long while?”

“No, not for a very long while. It’s something for me to look forward to, and I now know why your grandfather said he remembered how I actually had a little smile on my face at the end. But I’m in no hurry. Not with a family to call my own.”

“Will you take me travelling with you?”

“Someday, when you’re old enough. Now, I’ve kept you up too long and Mum and Dad will be annoyed with me again, so you better get to sleep.”

“I love you, Grandma.”

“I love you, too.”

**Author's Note:**

> My acknowledgement to all the writers of the Series 7, 8 and 9 episodes that formed the basis of the fairy tale.


End file.
